Negative Liberty: Public Opinion and the Terrorist Attacks on America

Appendix B: Data and Research Design

Appendix B Data and Research Design T he data on which this analysis is based come from a national survey of noninstitutionalized adults in United States. All interviews were conducted by telephone using computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) technology by the Office of Survey Research (OSR) in the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) at Michigan State University. The overall sampling design involved a truncated disproportionate stratified, list-assisted random-digit sample, which included African American and Latino oversamples. The primary goal of the first wave survey, which was conducted eight weeks after the attacks (November 15, 2001, to December 12, 2001), was to understand how the attacks would influence American public opinion on civil liberties, social group affect, perceptions of threat, political trust, ideology, partisanship, presidential approval, and a host of other attitudes. I will use most of the items covered in the survey, except for a battery of items that explored perceptions of the root causes of terrorism and the qualities of a true American. The initial interest in conducting the second wave panel involved the need to assess change in the event of another terrorist attack on America. There was an expectation that terrorists would strike again and it was important to have before and after measures. Because no attacks occurred, the decision was made to wait no longer than a year to do follow-up interviews. The first of these were conducted from January 21, 2003, to May 28, 2003. Most of the initial items were repeated in this survey , but new items were included to reflect the changing preferences and climate of the attacks. The third-wave interviews were intended to capture aspects of the 2004 presidential elections. 228 Table B.1 Data Description Field Completion Dates N Samples Rate Language Wave-1 November 15, 2001 1,448 National, random digit 52.4 percent English to January 14, 2002 dialing, oversamples of African Americans and Latinos Wave-2 panel January 31, 2003 to 679 Re-interview of wave-1 46.9 percent English and Spanish May 28, 2003 respondentsa Wave-2 new January 31, 2003 to 1,284 National random digit 41.1 percent English and Spanish cross-section May 28, 2003 dialing, oversamples of African Americans and Latinos Wave-3 all panel July 20, 2004 to 342 Re-interview of wave-1 English and Spanish (W1+W2+W3) November 5, 2004 and wave-2 respondents Wave-3 W2+W3 July 20, 2004 to 811 Re-interview of wave-1 41.3 percent English and Spanish panel November 5, 2004 and wave-2 respondents Wave-3 new July 20, 2004 to 960 National random digit 49.4 percent English and Spanish cross-section November 5, 2004 dialing, oversamples of African Americans and Latinosb Source: Author’s compilation. The data from each wave are weighted to account for the oversampling of African Americans and Latinos, as well to adjust for differences by education , age, and sex between the respondents and the U.S. population for the year 2002. a. In Wave-2, interviews were attempted only with respondents from the first wave who agreed to be recontacted (93 percent). Of the 1,298 who agreed, interviews were completed with 679 (53.2 percent). Most of the attrition was due to not being able to locate some respondents. b. Follow-up interviews were attempted only with respondents from the second wave who agreed to be recontacted (95 percent). Of the 1,832 who agreed, interviews were completed with 811 (44.3 percent). Again, most of the attrition was due to not being able to locate respondents. 230 Negative Liberty Table B.2 Assessment of Panel Differences (Differences in Means) Wave 1 Measures Wave 2 Measures Refused Panel t Refused Panel t Attitudinal Civil liberties 61.38 59.50 –1.52 56.10 58.52 1.66 Sociotropic threat 3.16 3.23 1.77 3.20 3.06 –2.94** Personal threat 2.43 2.35 3.63** 2.43 2.19 –4.77** Political trust 2.56 2.52 –1.19 2.54 2.50 –.94 Patriotism 4.68 4.65 .32 4.56 4.57 .33 Ideology 3.28 3.26 .78 3.33 3.11 –2.99** Demographic Female .55 .59 1.60 .61 .61 .06 Education 2.17 1.89 –4.67** 1.69 2.17 6.98** Age 49.14 45.24 –4.32...